Cleaning udders of milk-producing animals is a necessary step to avoid contaminated milk as well as to avoid issues such as mastitis by the animal. A variety of devices and methods have been used to clean the udder and teats of milk-producing animals in preparation for milking. Some methods have included manual dipping of teats in a disinfectant solution prior to milking. The disinfectant solution must then be wiped off or removed from the animal prior to milking. This is a laborious process that is not practical for a large-scale dairy farm.
A variety of systems have also been designed that include brushes for cleaning in combination with a sanitizing solution. Examples of these systems are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,132, and U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0240865. The udders and teats can have sand residue due to the practice of using sandy bedding in dairy farms. The presence of sand residue on udders can challenge udder-cleaning systems. A cleaning system utilizing brushes generally needs to have frequent replacement of the brushes. Replacement of brushes in a large-scale dairy farm can amount to a substantial cost in the operation of the farm. Systems have also been described that use high-pressure water. With these systems, however, the use of electricity to power the systems can be inconvenient and dangerous. In addition, significant amount of water was left on the udder that can lead to contamination of the milk during milking.